''Neolamprologus similis'' is a shell-dwelling

cichlid Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...

in Africa, where it is only known along the shores of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. ''N. similis'' is copper-coloured with vertical white stripes running from the head to the base of the tail. It can reach up to in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

, and it is a popular freshwater

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

fish.

Breeding habits

This fish is

monomorphic Monomorphic or Monomorphism may refer to: *Monomorphism, an injective homomorphism in mathematics * Monomorphic QRS complex, a wave pattern seen on an electrocardiogram * Monomorphic, a linguistic term meaning "consisting of only one morpheme" *Mo ...

: males and females are not visually different (males are bigger) and form small colonies or harems—depending on available space—in which the male fry are tolerated until they become active competitors of the male. Female fry are not only tolerated but are eventually courted as mates. The females also are objects of interest to neighboring males and may be targets of theft.

References

{{Commons category similis Fish of Lake Tanganyika Freshwater fish of Tanzania Fish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Taxa named by Heinz Heinrich Büscher Fish described in 1992